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LADY GAY TOOK HER LITTLE PARASOL. 


LADY GAY 


Jje &torg of a 3LtttIc ^trl anti jh'tentis 


BY 


MRS. 


S' 

GEORGE ARCHIBALD 



BOSTON 

LOTHROP PUBLISHING COMPANY 

TWO COPIES RECEIVED- 



Copyright , 1898, 

BY 

Lothrop Publishing Company. 





\ 


dolomal ^uss: 

Electrotyped and Printed by C. H. Simonds & Co. 
Boston, U. S. A. 


CONTENTS 


♦ 

CHAPTER PAGE 

I. Some First Things ... 7 

II. A Pretty Party . . . .16 

III. One Year Old .... 26 

IV. A Rainy Fourth .... 36 

V. Johnny’s Pack of Firecrackers . 45 

VI. Some of Lady Gay’s Friends . 52 

VII. A Chapter of Accidents . . 61 

VIII. Cousin Carl 71 

IX. Why Bonnie Francis Ate the Tur- 
nip ...... 80 

X. Behind Billy ..... 89 

XI. How a Good Penny Returned . 97 

XII. Teller’s Excursion . . .107 





LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 


PAGE 


Wednesday’s Child 9 

Lady Gay’s First Caller . . .* . 11 

Lady Gay’s Carriage. .... 13 

They Kissed the Baby .... 18 

In Bessie’s High Chair .... 10 

/ 

“‘Very Well,’ Said Mrs. Gay, ‘My Story 

Shall Be about a Boy’” . . 21 

Lady Gay Gets Her Birthday Cup . 27 

John Henry . . . . . 31 

Lady Gay Sees the Bird . . ... 32 

Lovely Times ...... 33 

The Giant Firecracker 37 

Lady Gay and the Portrait of Uncle 

Gee ....... 39 

It Still Rained ..... 43 

Johnny Earns His First Money . . 46 

Where Johnny Found His Cent . . 47 


LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 


PACE 

Dick ...... • • 53 

Lady Gay and Her Three Dolls . . 55 

Lady Gay Took Her Little Parasol . 57 

Estelle Calls May to Come and Play . 62 

Estelle Dresses for Company ... 65 

Estelle Keeps Her Head above Water . 68 

Carl Ready to Start on His Journey . 73 

Bonnie Francis on the Lawn ... 75 

The Choir Sings Down the Minister . 78 

“ ‘ I Guess Eve Got to Go and See 

Mamma’” . . . . . .81 

Going to Supper 84 

“‘It Wasn’t a Nice Supper,’ Sobbed Bon- 
nie” 86 

Waiting for Mr. Gay .... 90 

“ ‘ Look Out, Mister ! You’ll Git Run 

Into!”’ 93 

Fritz ........ 97 

“Go Home, Fritz,” Said the Eliot Chil- 
dren ....... 99 

“Penny Was Lost!” Said Mr. Church . 105 

The Welcome to Yeller . . . .108 

The Burial of Spartacus . . . . 109 

The Pursuit of Yeller . . . -113 


LADY GAY 






LADY GAY. 


CHAPTER I. 

SOME FIRST THINGS. 

She was the first baby! Not the first 
baby that ever was anywhere, but the 
first that came to bless the home of her 
father and mother. 

She was born on a Wednesday, and an 
old rhyme about birthdays, known to 
Lady Gay’s mother, came to her mind 
when Lady Gay was but a few days old. 
This is the rhyme : 


7 


8 


LADY GAY. 


“ Monday’s child is fair in the face, 
Tuesday’s child is full of grace ; 
Wednesday’s child hath far to go; 
Thursday’s child hath want and woe ; 
Friday’s child is loving and giving; 
Saturday’s child must work for its living j 
While the child that is born on the Sab- 
bath day, 

Is wise and witty and good and gay.” 

“ I am glad, Baby,” said her mother, 
“that you are Wednesday’s Child. For 
I do hope you have very far to go. Yes, 
I want you, Baby, to live to be an old 
woman.” 

And the baby s mother closed her eyes 
and prayed, with her lips against the 
baby’s head, that her little one might 
grow to become a woman, and a good 


woman. 



Wednesday’s child. 


9 




SOME FIRST THINGS. 


I I 

This was when Wednesday’s Child was 
so small that very few “ first things ” had 
happened to her. I will waste no time 



over her first smile, her first visitor, or her 
first gifts, though these things were of 
great importance to her family. 

But I will tell you of her first ride, 


LADY GAY. 


I 2 

which took place when she was just six 
weeks old. 

When she was not yet six weeks old, 
her father began to send up to the house 
samples of baby-carriages, and after Lady 
Gay’s mother had seen half a dozen, she 
selected one, — a pretty brown carriage 
with a pretty brown lace-trimmed parasol 
and a general first-baby air about it. 
This carriage remained in the front hall 
three weeks, until one bright day Mr. 
Gay declared he thought it high time 
Baby had a ride. 

So mamma warmed some soft pillows, 
wrapped up the baby, tucked her nicely 
in, covered her snugly up, and charged 
Mr. Gay many, many times to be careful. 
Then the whole family watched the proc- 
ess of getting the carriage out of the side 
door and down the steps of the side porch. 


SOME FIRST THINGS. 


13 


Mr. Gay held his head up in a very 
proud manner, and lifted his hat gaily as 
he was about to start. But no sooner did 
he take a first step than Lady Gay began 



LADY GAY’S CARRIAGE. 


to scream in a way likely to startle the 
whole street. In vain did papa walk very 
fast ; and when he had gone so far as to 
reach the back-yard gate, he opened it, 
took his baby inside through the kitchen 



H 


LADY GAY. 


and dining-room, and delivered her to her 
mother. 

His face was very red, and he not only 
said he had not enjoyed himself, but for 
a whole hour he was very stiff about 
thinking he would never take the baby 
riding again. But he did, of course ! 

Some time after that Lady Gay had 
her first photograph. She was four 
months old by that time, and a large, 
twenty-four-pound child. 

It was a cold January day. Because 
it blew, they rode in a close carriage, and 
because it froze, carriage riding was very 
rough and kept the baby awake ; and 
worried her father and mother lest keep- 
ing awake might make her cross and 
spoil her picture. 

But it did not ; and at the picture-gal- 
lery her pretty wraps were taken off, her 


SOME FIRST THINGS. 


15 


few hairs were brushed, her embroidery 
was spread out to look as well as possible, 
and she was seated in a funny stuffed 
chair with a round hole in the back. 

The round hole was for Baby’s mamma 
to put her hand through, so that she 
might grasp Baby’s dress at the back and 
keep her from falling out, without being 
herself seen. 

Mr. Gay offered to do this, but Mrs. 
Gay said Baby was such a strong baby 
she was afraid she might jump and get 
away from him. So she crawled down 
behind the chair and held fast, and Baby 
never stirred, and Mr. Tomson said “the 
negative was excellent.” 

Then Baby was wrapped up. Mr. Gay 
took up the precious bundle, and mamma 
followed, and they were soon safely home. 


CHAPTER II. 


A PRETTY PARTY. 

The picture was a great success. Many 
were given away. Grade Wye had one 



for her birthday present at her pretty 
party. 

Gracie and Bessie Wye both came to 

16 


A PRETTY PARTY. 


*7 


bring the invitation. Lady Gay was 
sitting on a blanket thumping a rubber 
doll on the floor. When they came, she 
stopped her fun and looked at them. 
They looked at her, too. Bessie cried : 
“ Oh, see her cunning shoes ! ” 

The shoes were of white leather and 
were too big. They turned up at the 
toes. You see the baby was now in short 
clothes. 

“ Come up by the fire,” said Mrs. Gay 
to the rosy little girls. 

“ Oh, we can’t stay. We must go to 
some more places to invite some more.” 

“ We’re going to have a birthday party,” 
put in Bessie, “ and we want the baby to 
come.” 

“A birthday!” said Mrs. Gay. “Why, 
neither of you have a birthday until 
August.” 


LADY GAY. 



“ Well, that doesn’t make any differ- 
ence,” said Gracie, “ we’re going to have 
a birthday party just the same, and you 



THEY KISSED THE BABY. 

must bring your baby and come to it. 
Now you will, won’t you?” 

“ When is it to be ? ” asked Mrs. Gay, 
smiling. 

“To-morrow,” said Gracie; “and you 


A PRETTY PARTY. 


19 


must wear your best clothes and so must 
the baby, for it’s going to be a very pretty 
party.” 

“Well,” said Mrs. Gay, 

“ we will come and we will 
try to look very nice,” and 
she kissed the little girls 
and they kissed 
the baby and ran 
merrily out-of- 
doors. 

It was really 
a pretty party. 

There were six 
little girls there, because Grade was six 
years old, and four of them were Bessie’s, 
too, because Bessie was four. There 
were no boys except Ned. Ned was 
the big brother of the Wye girls. He 
pretended he did not care to be at a girls’ 



IN BESSIE’S HIGH CHAIR. 


20 


LADY GAY. 


party, but he had a very good appetite 
when tea was served. 

As for Lady Gay, she did not eat at 
all. She only sat in Bessie’s outgrown 
high chair and pounded on the table with 
a teaspoon. 

After tea ‘was over they sat down in 
the back parlor and told stories — mostly 
about girls. But when it was Mrs. Gay’s 
turn, Ned exclaimed : 

“ Oh, do tell something about a boy ! 
I’m tired of hearing about girls.” 

“Very well,” said Mrs. Gay, “my story 
shall be about a boy. 

“ Once on a time, in the early winter, a 
certain lady, who had not been married 
very long, thought it would be fun to get 
supper herself.” 

“ Hoh ! I don’t think that’s much about 
boys! ” said Ned. 





A PRETTY PARTY. 


“ I’m coming to the boy soon,” said 
Mrs. Gay. “ This lady went on and 
cooked a very fine supper. And when 
her husband came home she said it 
looked so nice she wished she had some 
company to help eat it. And as true as 
true can be, just as she said this there 
came a little tap on the glass in the side 
door, and a boy’s face peeped through. 

“ As she opened the door a boy of 
about ten stepped in. His face was very 
rosy, and he had torn his knickerbockers. 

“ ‘ Halloo ! ’ he said, ‘ how do’ do ? I’ve 
been playing up this way with Fred Fow- 
ler, catching on bobs. And Fred’s gone 
home, and I told him to tell mamma I 
was going to call and see you, and if you 
asked me to please stay to tea I was 
going to stay.’ 

‘“I- certainly shall ask you,’ said* the 


24 


LADY GAY. 


lady. So the boy took off his hat and 
stayed, and the lady had company to tea 
just as she had wished.” 

“ That boy just about invited himself,” 
said one of the little girls. 

“Yes; and that was what I liked. It 
proved he wanted to stay.” 

“Was it you?'' asked Gracie. “Who 
was the boy ? ” 

“You must ask Ned,” said Mrs. Gay. 

Ned's face was quite red, for of course 
it was Ned who had gone in that odd 
way to see Mrs. Gay. He did not own it, 
though. 

When Mrs. Gay put her hand in her 
bag to take out a silk handkerchief to tie 
around the baby’s neck, for her ride home, 
she exclaimed : 

“Well, I declare! here is Baby’s photo- 
graph. I thought, as this party was a 


A PRETTY PARTY. 


25 


birthday party, I would bring it down 
for a present.” 

At that Gracie and Bessie looked at 
and admired the picture and ran to get 
a velvet frame to put it in. 

And it stands in that frame to this day. 


CHAPTER III. 


ONE YEAR OLD. . 

Of course Lady Gay’s real name was 
not Lady Gay. When she was baptized 
they named her a name made of the first 
names of both her father and mother, and 
it was also the name of a beautiful young 
friend of the family. This name was put 
in the family Bible, and engraved on the 
silver cup that was given her the day she 
was one year old. 

The father of the beautiful young friend 
brought her the cup. It was gold-lined, 
and had a cunning little silver baby 
perched on the handle. Lady Gay 

26 


ran 


LADY GAY GETS HER BIRTHDAY CUP. 








ONE YEAR OLD. 


2 9 


across the floor to get it, and reached up 
to kiss the giver. 

She could walk well ; she had run 
about ever since she was eleven months 
old. Her friends were proud of this ; 
they knew many babies several months 
past one year who could not walk a step. 

On the day when she was a year old 
her picture was again taken. It was a 
good picture, and she astonished the pho- 
tographer by exclaiming, “ The idea ! ” 
when he shook a toy bird at her and 
whistled. 

Great pains had been taken to teach 
her to say this. She could speak about 
a dozen words with distinctness. 

The whole of this day was given up to 
her. It was a m-eat thins: that she should 
be one year old ! They invited company 
to tea. Just one “ company,” — her cousin 


30 


LADY GAY. 


John Henry. What do you suppose he 
wanted for supper ? Green corn ! 

So Mrs. Gay had green corn' cooked, 
and set on the table, along with the cake 
and sauce and other things. But though 
they had so much in her honor, Lady Gay 
ate nothing herself but bread and milk. 
Lady Gay had been brought up in this 
way and thought it was exactly right. 

John Henry had a little of everything 
and liked all but the corn. I will tell 
you why he did not like the corn. When 
Nora prepared it she did it in such a 
hurry that she left a great deal of the 
silk among the tender kernels. 

“ Don’t you like your corn ? ” asked 
Mrs. Gay. 

“I’d like it well enough,” said he, “if 
whoever made it had pulled out the 
basting threads.” 


ONE YEAR OLD. 


31 


They all laughed at that except John 
Henry. Lady Gay laughed because the 
rest did. 

After supper Mr. Gay said to his tiny 
daughter: “Now I’ll give you your last 
birthday present — for 
this time.” 

* He took her up in his 
arms and carried her 
into the sitting-room, 
and there in a pretty 
cage was a canary-bird. 

It was hopping about 
and turning its yellow head first one way 
and then another. Oh, how pleased was 
Lady Gay ! 

The dainty bird was hung in a sunny 
window and well watered, fed, and bathed. 
He was young, handsome, and a fine 



32 


LADY GAY. 


Mrs. Gay named him “ Spartacus.” 

Mr. Gay said that was a very poor 
name. He would pretend to make mis- 
takes in pronouncing it. 
His most common way 
of saying it was “ ’Spara- 
gus.” Lady Gay soon 
learned to say “ Spart’us,” 
and she grew very fond 
of her bird. 

But all of that was some 
time after her birthday. 
The birthday itself came 
to an end, as if it were 
a common day. And it 
ended in this way. 

Lady Gay was kissed 
all around, at about half- 
past seven, undressed, and put into a 
night-gown. Then she was taken on her 



LADY GAY SEES 
THE BIRD. 


ONE YEAR OLD. 


33 


mamma’s lap, where she said “ Bye-bye ! ” 
and lay comfortably back to be rocked 
to sleep. 

Lady Gay and her mother had lovely 



times when it was sleepy-time. Mrs. 
Gay used to sing little rhymes to tunes 
that nobody else knew. Sometimes she 
used to make the rhymes herself. Here 


34 


LADY GAY. 


is one she sang quite often. She had 
made it one afternoon, when she walked 
with the little one in the park. It was 
quite suitable because Lady Gay was so 
fond of walking. 

“ My precious little daughter is a lovely 
little lady, 

She often goes a- walking when the streets 
are cool and shady ; 

And when she goes a-walking how merry 
are her features ; 

My precious little daughter is the mer- 
riest of creatures.” 

Nobody except Lady Gay ever heard 
this rhyme. Mrs. Gay was pretty certain 
that it was not good poetry. But the 
baby liked it, and listened, first with eyes 
wide open, then with long winks — then, 
fast asleep, she heard nothing. 


ONE YEAR OLD. 


35 


When her soft breathing showed that 
she listened no longer, Mrs. Gay would 
take her, put her in the crib, tuck her in, 
kiss her and leave her there. 


CHAPTER IV. 


A RAINY FOURTH. 

As Lady Gay learned to talk she found 
more and more words that were quite be- 
yond her powers. 

One of these words was “ firecracker.” 
She called it “ popacker.” 

“When it’s Fourth of July I can see 
the peerade of soldiers and have a hun- 
erd popackers.” 

She was nearly three now. “ When 
I live longer enough I shall be three 
years old,” she said. 

She really did have a hundred “ pop- 
ackers ” on the Fourth, but, alas ! she did 
not see the parade. 


36 


A RAINY FOURTH. 


37 


Mr. Gay had promised to get up early 
on the morning of the Fourth and waken 
his daughter by fir- 


ing an enormous 
firecracker under 
her window. Be- 
fore Lady Gay 
went to bed on 
the night of the 
third of July, she 
charged her father 
not to forget his 
promise. 

Lady Gay was 
first awake. She 

called to her 

« 

mother : 








THE GIANT FIRECRACKER. 


“ Mamma, wake papa up to get up 
and shoot a big popacker and wake me 

n 

up. 


3 » 


LADY GAY. 


“ Why, you are already awake,” said 
her mother. 

“No, my eyes are as tight! I can’t 
see, and I can’t wake up without a 
popacker.” 

So Mr. Gay dressed and took a giant 
firecracker under the window, and made 
such a noise that it waked Lady Gay at 
once. She immediately rose, was dressed, 
breakfasted, and had a good time all alone 
with her papa — a sort of private celebra- 
tion. 

She did not dare even to throw a 
torpedo on the sidewalk, but she could 
wave her flags and “ Hurrah ! ” and jump 
at the explosions. 

After awhile her papa had to go down- 
town, and then Lady Gay was dressed 
in a very pretty gown and soft white 
cap to go to see the parade. Then she 




LADY GAY AND THE PORTRAIT OF UNCLE GEE 



A RAINY FOURTH. 


41 

was seated in her wicker chair to wait 
for mamma. While she sat there Fanny 
came. Fanny was John Henry’s sister. 

“ Oh, dear ! ” said Lady Gay ; “ you 
can’t come to-day.” 

“ Why, yes, I can, you dear ! ” said 
Fanny, kissing her. “ I’ve come al- 
ready.” 

“No, you can’t come,” persisted Lady 
Gay, “for mamma and I are going to the 
peerade.” 

“ I can go, too,” said Fanny. 

Lady Gay had never thought of that. 
“ Well, then, you may come to-day,” she 
said. 

Just then there was a strange rumbling 
sound in the sky. “ What’s that ? ” cried 
Lady Gay, and, “ Oh, it’s going to rain ! ” 
cried Fanny. 

Mrs. Gay looked across the lawn over 


4 2 


LADY GAY. 


Mr. Lucy’s barn. They always looked 
over that barn to see if a storm was 
coming. A dark cloud was there. “ I 

O 

think it really is going to rain,” she said. 

“ Never mind,” said Lady Gay, sweetly, 
“we can wear our numbrelly.” 

But Mrs. Gay put down her hat, for 
the thunder kept rolling more and more 
heavily. “We shall have to wait until 
it is over,” she said. 

“/ don’t care,” said Fanny, “but of 
course I’m big.” 

Soon the rain was falling briskly and 
it looked as if they would not see the 
parade. Lady Gay gazed dolefully out 
of the window. Then she ran to the door 
and looked out and cried, “ Stop ! you’ve 
rained enough.” 

But still the drops fell fast. Lady Gay 
wandered uneasily around the room ; at 


A RAINY FOURTH 


43 



“ Oh, dear ! ” she sighed, “ I wish 
Gee’s picture had his legs on so 
sit on his lap ! ” 


IT STILL RAINED. 


last she came in front of 
picture. 


her 


uncle’s 





Uncle 

could 


44 


LADY GAY. 


“You ridiculous child,” said her mother. 

Then Mrs. Gay went out of the room 

% 

about various duties; she was gone nearly 
an hour. When she came back the chil- 
dren still stood looking at the spattering 
drops and filling gutters. 

“ The Fourth is spoiled,” said Fanny. 

“ Well, I have known ‘ Fourths ’ spoiled 
when the weather was fine,” said Mrs. 
Gay. 

“ Have you ? ” said Fanny ; “ how ? ” 
“Well, one boy I knew about had a 
Fourth spoiled on a sunny day.” 

Mrs. Gay sat down in a big, easy 
rocker, took up her child, and began 
the story. 


CHAPTER V. 


johnny’s pack of firecrackers 

“Johnny Morgan was eleven years 
old,” began Mrs. Gay, “ before he ever had 
a pack of firecrackers, and even then he 
had to earn them. They cost six cents. 
The first cent he got by hoeing a quarter 
of an acre of potatoes, and it took him 
a long time. The second old Mrs. Var- 
ney gave him for bringing her a pail of 
water; he dropped it in the grass going 
home, and had to hunt for it all the after- 
noon until nearly dark. He got the 
third cent by eating, for a week, molasses 
on his bread instead of butter, because 
butter was dear. Then Johnny’s grand- 


45 


4 6 


LADY GAY. 


mother came on a visit, and she gave 
Johnny two cents more.” 



JOHNNY EARNS HIS FIRST MONEY. 


“ Then did he buy a pack of popack- 
ers ? ” asked Lady Gay. 

“ Not yet. He lacked one cent, and 
it was a long time before he got that. 


johnny’s PACK OB' FIRECRACKERS. 47 


But one day when he stood in front of 
the dry - goods store a little hop-toad 
jumped on the iron grating under the 
window and fell through. Johnny popped 
down on his hands and knees to see if 



WHERE JOHNNY FOUND HIS CENT. 


it had killed itself. And there, close by 
the hop-toad, he saw a cent. He went 
into the store and told the clerk, and 
the clerk said, if he wished to go down 
cellar and get it, he might have it. 

“ My! how Johnny ran down-stairs and 


4 8 


LADY GAY. 


how he poked around in all sorts of 
rubbish ! But he found the penny and 
put it into his pocket, and went home 
to get the rest of his money and go and 
buy his firecrackers. 

“ It was a great deal, in the town where 
Johnny lived, for one boy to have a whole 
pack of firecrackers, and a good many 
children went into Johnny’s back yard 
to see the fun. He had a piece of punk, 
a small flag, a tin horn, and the firecrack- 
ers. The flag he tied to the fence post, 
the horn he blew, the punk he set afire, 
and then tore the wrapper from the 
crackers. 

“ Here the old striped cat came along 
— and such a bad thought popped into 
Johnny’s head! It would be good fun 
to tie a half-dozen crackers to the cat’s 
tail and set them off ! 


johnny’s pack of firecrackers. 49 

“ A few of the company made some 
objections, but when he said it was a 
mean cat, and had scratched the baby 
that morning, they said it ought to be 
scared — when no doubt the baby had 
pulled its tail. Jolinny had to be deceitful 
to the cat. He said, ‘ Come, kitty ! Nice 
kitty! Kitty, kitty, kitty,’ as if he meant 
to be kind. And when he had coaxed 
her to come, he stroked her, and when 
she began to purr he slyly tied a half- 
dozen firecrackers fast to her tail. The 
children were interested by this time and 
did not try to take the cat’s part. 

“ ‘ Why don’t you put on more than 
six and make a nawful noise ? ’ said 
Bobby Jenkins. So Johnny took a piece 
of twine, and tied it first around the 
crackers on the cat’s tail and then around 
the end of the pack ; he meant to pull 


50 


LADY GAY. 


off six more and set them afire and let 
her go. 

“ But the piece of punk and the tail 
of a firecracker had come together, and 
before he was ready there came a loud 
report, and the scared cat gave a squall 
and began to struggle, and Johnny let 
her slip through his arms. Away she 
went with her tail sticking straight up, 
through a gap in the fence, and under 
Mr. Loves big barn. Not a firecracker 
was saved. Though -all the children lay 
fiat on all sides of the barn, and peeped 
under, and called, she would not return 
that day. 

“ The children were dreadfully disap- 
pointed to have their celebration run away, 
and Johnny had a very dull Fourth.” 

“ Did the cat ever come back ? ” asked 


JOHNNY S PACK OF FIRECRACKERS. 5 1 

“Yes, after awhile. But she left the 
firecrackers under the barn out of sight 
and reach. All the neighbors said it 
served Johnny right, and that it was a 
wonder the barn wasn’t burned down.” 

“ I’m sorry he losed his popackers,” 
said Lady Gay. 

“ I am sorry for the cat,” said Fanny ; 
“ but if any one tied firecrackers on cats’ 
tails around here of course I’d like to 
see what it would do.” 

“ Oh,” said Mrs. Gay, “ you wouldn’t ! 
I am glad Johnny Morgan lost his crack- 
ers. 

“ Of course I wouldn’t hurt cats,” said 
Fanny. 

“ And I wouldn’t,” said Lady Gay. “ I 
like cats like ebbysyning.” Lady Gay 
always said “ ebbysyning ” for “ every- 
thing.” 


CHAPTER VI. 

SOME OF LADY GAYS FRIENDS. 

Lady Gay had a host of friends : a 
father and mother, a grandfather and 
grandmother, and aunts, uncles, and cous- 
ins, and small neighbors, playmates, and 
child acquaintances. 

There were four little girls who lived 
very near. One was Bonnie Francis, 
whose back yard was next to Lady Gay s 
back yard. Once when Lady Gay was 
going to see Bonnie, her mother lifted 
her over the high fence and dropped her 
carefully down on Bonnies side. Bonnie 
was five months younger than Lady Gay, 


5 2 


SOME OF LADY GAy’s FRIENDS. 53 


and was a dainty little maiden with beau- 
tiful dark eyes. 

Edith Lucy lived on the corner, across 
the street in a nice house, with a beautiful 
lawn on the side next Mr. Gay’s. Edith, 
too, was five 
months younger 
than Lady Gay. 

She was full of 
play, and once 

V v 

Lady Gay said : 





M-. 


w 


Edith goes 


DICK. 


faster than I 

can go. She’s got more of a go foot .” 
Maud Eastlake lived across the road 
from the front of Edith’s house. Maud 
was six months older than Lady Gay, 
and was a quiet, gentle child. 

These four children were born neigh- 
bors. But Jennie Martin moved in the 


54 


LADY GAY. 


brown house on another corner when 
Lady Gay was three years old. Jennie 
was a year and a half older than Lady 
Gay, but not a bit taller and much more 
slender. Jennie had a fat, funny little 
brother named Dick. He talked in such 
a crooked way that nobody except his 
own folks could understand him. 

All these children used to visit each 
other, without going away from home. 
They lived so near they could stand at 
the edges of their own sidewalks and 
talk. It was a great treat when they 
were allowed to go into each other’s 
houses or yards for a play-spell. 

Sometimes they told short stories across 
the street, or recited nursery rhymes or 
sang songs. They took their dolls for an 
airing in their doll carriages, too, all at the 
same time, on their own sidewalks. 


SOME OF LADY GAY’s FRIENDS. 


Lady Gay had three dolls. They were 
called Betsey, Althea Meadosia, and Susan 
B. Anthony. 

One morning Jennie Martin called to 



LADY GAY AND HER THREE' DOLLS. 


Lady Gay: “ Ask your mamma to let you 
come over ! ” 

“It won’t be the least of good,” replied 
Lady Gay. 

“ When will you come over ? ” entreated 
Jennie. 

“ I don’t know,” said Lady Gay. “ I 



56 


LADY GAY. 


expect I must wait till the clouds roll by, 
Jennie.” 

Lady Gay’s papa had sung her a song, 
the name of which was “ Wait till the 
clouds roll by, Jennie.” Then Mrs. Mar- 
tin wrote an invitation on a tiny sheet of 
Jennie’s paper, inviting Lady Gay, her 
mamma, and papa to come over to tea. 

Promptly at the hour appointed the lit- 
tle girl was made ready in a clean white 
dress with a wide collar and a sash. She 
wore tan-colored shoes, but nothing on 
her head. It was so near that she could 
go bareheaded. However, she carried 
her cunning parasol. 

“ Trot along,” said her mother, handing 
it to her. 

“ What makes you say ‘ trot along ? ’ ” 
Lady Gay asked. “You know I’m not a 
horse.” 


LADY GAY TOOK HER LITTLE PARASOL. 





SOME OF LADY GAY’S FRIENDS. 


“Oh! excuse me," answered Mrs. Gay. 
“ Run along.” 

They had a good tune that afternoon. 
Their games were very quiet ones, but 
full of delight. They played school and 
Dick spoke a piece : 

“ Dick, be nimble, Dick, be quick, 

And, Dick, jump over the candlestick.” 

When he said “jump,” he would jump 
as high as he could. But except the. 
words “jump” and “Dick,” Lady Gay 
could not understand a single syllable. 
“Nevermind, Dick,” said Jennie, “when 
you are a big man you can talk lovely.” 
“Yes, an’ have fiskers ,” said Dick (he 
meant whiskers ). “ An’ you’s won’t have 

fiskers, nor Lady won’t.” 

“ I’ll have some,” said Lady Gay, “on 
my eyelashes, same’s now.” 


6o 


LADY GAY. 


They never stopped playing until Ellen 
Finnegan set the tables. There were two, 
for Mrs. Martin had arranged that the 
three children should sit by themselves. 
Ellen took a deal of pains to have their 
table pretty with fancy plates, and they 
were highly pleased. 

“ I’ve had the goodest fun,” said Lady 
Gay when they were ready to go, “ ’spe- 
cially when I ate that custard with fuzz 
on the top.” 


CHAPTER VII. 


A CHAPTER OF ACCIDENTS. 

Lady Gay had one friend whom she 
had never seen, and whom she loved 
very much. 

This friend was two years younger 
than Lady Gay, and the daughter of a 
friend of Lady Gay’s papa. Her name 
was Estelle St. John. 

The two children knew each other 
very well from the letters that passed 
between the families, and they often 
sent messages to each other. 

One day Lady Gay had a letter from 
Estelle’s papa, and Mrs. Gay read it to 
her : 

61 


62 


LADY GAY. 


“ I)e ar Lady Gay : 

“ I must tell you about our baby’s mis- 
hap. I know you will be sorry she 
had it. 



ESTELLE CALLS MAY TO COME AND PLAY. 


“ You see they have so much whooping- 
cough around here that our little girl has 

O O 

no one to play with, so she has to amuse' 
herself. On that day she had called in 
vain at the fence for May, the next-door 
neighbor, and had done all a baby 


A CHAPTER OF ACCIDENTS. 63 

knows how to do, in the house and out- 
of-doors. 

“ She had spent two hours washing her 
dollies. She washed their faces and their 
hands and their feet, taking pains with 
their ears. She then put them to bed for 
their naps. 

“ She had chatted with the birds on the 
cherry - trees and with the chickens in 
their coops ; with the cats, and even 
scolded the spotted cow. Then she 
played company was coming, and in 
getting ready for her visitors she had 
her mishap. 

“ There stood by the gate, where the 
spotted cow drinks, a large tub of water 
half-full. Estelle had found a chip on 
the ground and was playing it was a 
hair brush ; and she went to this tub to 
wet it. 


64 


LADY GAY. 


“ After doing this a dozen times she 
leaned too far over into the tub ; and on 
the thirteenth time her feet slipped and 
in she went, head-first. 

“ How she managed to keep her head 
above water I do not know, but she did 
and so was not drowned. But she was 
badly frightened when her grandma took 
her out ; she cried for two hours, and was 
sick all night and the next day. 

“ Whenever we mention the word tub 
to her, Estelle now spreads her two pre- 
cious hands before her eyes, and turns 
away her face, as if to say : ‘ If you please, 
I would rather not think about that.’ But 
except for that you would not know from 
her looks that anything unusual had be- 
fallen her. 

“ Estelle would send her love if she 
were not fast asleep. Her mamma and I 


ESTELLE DRESSES FOR COMPANY. 









A CHAPTER OF ACCIDENTS. 67 

send a good deal, and we are, dear Lady 
Gay, your loving friends. Good-by. 

“ ‘ Estelle’s Papa.’ ” 

Lady Gay was much excited over this 
letter. “ I’m glad it wasn’t me,” she said ; 
“ but I am sorry it was Estelle. Did I 
ever fall into anything?” 

“Yes; you fell into two cellars when 
you were smaller,” said Mrs. Gay. 

“ Did I ? How did I ? ” 

“ First time you fell into our own. 
Grandma had been down and did not 
quite latch the door when she came up. 
You ran against the door, it flew open 
and down you went, over and over and 
over.” 

“ My ! It didn’t kill me, did it ? ” 

“ Not in the least. I got down al- 
most as soon as you did, but not quick 


68 


LADY GAY. 


enough to pick you up. You picked 
yourself up and ran around and around, 
screaming: ‘Failed down cellar all loney ; 
failed down cellar all loney!’ You were 



ESTELLE KEEPS HER HEAD ABOVE WATER. 


not quite a year and a half old at that 
time. ” 

“ Where did I fall next ? ” asked Lady 
Gay. 

“ Next time you were in Mr. Fisher’s 


A CHAPTER OF ACCIDENTS. 


69 


store. Mrs. Nye and mamma were look- 
ing at cloaks when all at once you disap- 
peared in an open stairway in the back of 
the store. About twenty people ran to 
pick you up, and they were all much 
frightened. But you had only bumped 
your nose and broken your parasol.” 

“ What kind of a parasol was it ? ” 

“ It was a little blue parasol. You 
can’t remember it. You were only two 
years old at that time.” 

Lady Gay began to cry, running to 
her mother. “ What is the matter ? ” 
asked Mrs. Gay, surprised. 

“ I’m crying because I broke such a 
pretty parasol,” sobbed Lady Gay. 

“ Bless you! I wouldn’t cry now. You 
had a new one right away, and I’m sure 
you are not out of parasols. Your little 
accidents were not much. They are 


70 


LADY GAY. 


hardly worth telling, let alone crying 
about. So I would not cry.” 

“ What made you tell them, then ? If 
you hadn’t I wouldn’t cry,” said Lady 
Gay. 

“ Why, you asked me to tell them, and 
I did not know you would cry.” 

“ I wish you would tell some more,” 
said Lady Gay, brightly. “ I’m all 
through crying.” 

“ I think I hadn’t better,” replied her 
mamma; “accidents are not very pleasant 
to think about, and not very pleasant to 
talk about.” 


CHAPTER VIII. 

COUSIN CARL. 

If Carl hacl been ten months older he 
and Lady Gay would have been the same 
age. 

Oh, he was such a busy boy ! Lady 
Gay always liked to go and see him, he 
was so lively and full of frolic. 

He used to stand with his back against 
the dining-room wall, both little feet set 
fast together, and, with a spring begin- 
ning his journey, would go through the 
dining-room, sitting-room, and library, 
jumping every step and keeping his feet 
together all the way. Once he jumped 
on Lady Gay’s foot. 


7 1 


72 


LADY GAY. 


“ Oh, stop ! ” said she, “ you hopped on 
my toe.” 

“ Well, I’m a hop- toad” said Carl. 

One day in September Lady Gay said, 
“ Oh, dear, I'm awful lonesome without 
playing with anybody.” She had a cold, 
and, as it was a chilly, windy day, Mrs. 
Gay thought she better stay in. 

She watched Edith Lucy and Bonnie 
Francis playing ball on the lawn. They 
did not have colds. Finally, in great 
discontent, she said to her mother: 

“ I wish I was made in two parts.” 

“ Why, Lady Gay, what makes you say 
that?” asked her mother, very much as- 
tonished. 

“ Why, then I could run up and down 
and play with myself,” she answered. 

Her mamma felt sorry for a child so 
lonely as that, and she was glad to see 


CARL READY TO START ON HIS JOURNEY. 




COUSIN CARL. 


75 


Carl and his mamma go past the window 
soon after and then appear at the door. 

“ We can stay just three-quarters of an 
hour,” said Aunt Effie, so you two young- 
sters want to make the 
most of it.” 

“ Let’s play some- 
thing,” said Carl. 

“ Let’s play fire and 



I’ll be the engine.” 

“ Oh, no,” said his 
mother, “ play some 
nice, still play.” 

“ Let’s play church,” 
said Lady Gay. 

“Oh, what a play! You can’t say a 
word in church ’thout your mother stops 
you,” answered Carl. 

“ Yes, you can,” said Lady Gay. “ You 
can if you’re the choir and the minister. 




BONNIE FRANCIS ON 
THE LAWN. 


76 LADY GAY. 

You can be the choir and I’ll be the 
minister, and we’ll play the little children 
that listen and get tired are on that 
sofa.” 

Lady Gay got her father’s big diction- 
ary for a pulpit. The choir sat in her 
little rocker. 

The minister read the hymn, as she 
had heard other ministers do, and, not 
knowing any better way, she “ made it 
up ” as she went along. This was the 
hymn : 

“ So Mrs. Rooker thought she’d go, 
And wandered through the dew, 

So when I saw the posy-flowers 
I thought I’d go there too.” 

As the choir could not remember the 
words, he rose and sang : 


COUSIN CARL. 


77 


“ My country, ’tisn’t thee, 

Sweet lantuff Libertee 
Uf ’ee I sing. 

Land where my fathers fly, 

Land of the Pilgrim’s pry, 

From ev’ry mount and sigh, 

Let freedom ring.” 

The tremendous roar of the choir 
drowned everything else. When it was 
over the minister preached a long sermon, 
so long that the choir felt obliged to rise 
and sing down the minister. This made 
Lady Gay quite indignant, and she left 
the pulpit to complain to her mother. 

“ Carl wants to do his part when I’m 
doing my part,” said she. 

“ But Carl thinks your part is too long. 
You ought to let Carl sing more than 
once,” replied her mother. 


7S 


LADY GAY. 


“Well, he’d sing all the while if I’d let 
him,” said Lady Gay. 

“ Listen to me,” said mamma ; “ Carl is 
your little company, and he has been very 



THE CHOIR SINGS DOWN THE MINISTER. 


nice company, too. Now, if he wants to 
do something, and you want to do some- 
thing else, you must give up to him. I 
want my little girl to learn to give up.” 


COUSIN CARL. 


79 


“ Of course you do, mamma,” said Lady 
Gay, “ but — I want Carl to learn to give 
up, too.” 

But Mrs. Gay would not let the matter 
go in that way, and soon Lady Gay ran 
back quite good-natured again. 

“ If you want to, you can sing,” she 
said. 

But the choir had been improving his 
time all the while that Lady Gay had 
been learning her lesson in unselfishness, 
and was quite willing to listen to another 
section of sermon. 


CHAPTER IX. 

WHY BONNIE FRANCIS ATE THE TURNIP. 

Bonnie Francis could not bear to 
look at a turnip, and she seldom did. For 
out of respect for Bonnie’s dislike, Mrs. 
Francis only once in a long time in- 
cluded turnip in the bill of fare for her 
family. 

Bonnie was a shy little thing. It was 
hard work for a stranger to make friends 
with her, and she did not like to go any- 
where without her mother. 

But the older they grew the more 
pleasure she and Fady Gay took in 
each other’s company. She would go 

80 


WHY BONNIE ATE THE TURNIP. 


8 1 


to Lady Gay’s house to play, though she 
preferred Lady Gay should come to her 
house. Sometimes when she seemed to 
be having an excellent good time at Lady 



“ ‘ I GUESS I’VE got to go and see mamma.’ ” 


Gay’s, all at once she would spring up 
and say, “ I guess I’ve got to go and see 
mamma, a minute.” 

If you looked you would notice that 
her eyes were homesick to see her 
mother. Mrs. Gay always hurried to 


82 


LADY GAY. 


get the little coat and cap on at such 
times, and then would kiss her and say: 
“ Come again, Bonnie.” 

Lady Gay would look quite sorrowful, 
and say : 

“ Come right back as soon as you 
have seen your mamma, will you ? ” 

And Bonnie would say: “Maybe I 

will.” But she never did that day. 

It was a great day when Bonnie finally 
resolved to go to Lady Gay’s house to 
tea, Lady Gay having first taken tea 
once with Bonnie. 

She came quite early and brought her 
doll. It was an elegant doll, and Lady 
Gay always admired it. 

“ But I have seen a doll,” said she 
to-day, “ that can say mamma.” 

“ Have you ? Where ? ” asked Bonnie. 
“ I saw it to Rena’s house. It’s hers. 


WHY BONNIE ATE THE TURNIP. 83 

I went there to call with mamma. Renas 
a real pretty little girl, she looks like me, 
only she looks nicer.” 

“ Does she ? ” asked Bonnie of Mrs. 
Gay. 

“ A good many people think she and 
Lady Gay look alike,” answered Mrs. 
Gay. 

“ Our mothers can tell us apart, 
though,” said Lady Gay. 

“ I should think you’d be glad,” re- 
plied Bonnie, “ ’cause if they couldn’t 
you wouldn’t know which was your 
mother.” 

“ Oh, yes, we would. We can tell our 
mothers by how we feel,” said Lady 
Gay. 

“Now, Rena talks the funniest!” went 
on Lady Gay. “ She calls everybody 
‘ aunt.’ She calls me ‘ aunt Lady Gay.’ ” 


8 4 


LADY GAY 


“ Does she ? ” asked Bonnie, again ap- 
pealing to Mrs. Gay. 

“ Yes,” answered Mrs. Gay. “ She says 



GOING TO SUI'PER. 


‘ aunt mamma,’ and ‘ aunt papa,’ and ‘aunt 
cousin Lena,’ and ‘ aunt Bridget.’ ” 

Lady Gay and Bonnie played happily 
all the afternoon, and the tea-bell rang 


WHY BONNIE ATE THE TURNIP. 85 

before they thought it was “ half-time,” 
they said. 

“ Never mind,” said Lady Gay, “ we 
can play after supper. If you’ll stay till 
it’s dark papa’ll go home with you.” 

“It gets dark pretty soon after we eat,” 
said Bonnie. 

“ Well, you needn’t be afraid if my 
papa’s with you,” said Lady Gay. 

Bonnie was a little troubled as she went 
out into the dining-room. But Lady 
Gay’s mamma made so much fun get- 
ting them seated, and Lady Gay’s papa 
was so jolly, it gave her courage. 

There were plenty of nice things to 
eat, and Lady Gay’s papa filled Bonnie’s 
plate with some of all. 

Now, on one corner of the table was 
a dish of warmed-over turnip. Mr. Gay 
liked it, and that is why they had re- 


86 


LADY GAY. 


served what was left from dinner. When 
Mr. Gay helped Bonnie, he spied it, and, 



without even asking her if she liked it, 
put a big spoonful on her plate. And 
she — poor child ! — did not dare to say 
a word. 


WHY BONNIE ATE THE TURNIP. 87 

What could she clo ? Bonnie with 
desperate self-control resolved to eat 
the turnip as fast as she could, and then 
enjoy what was good; and she swallowed 
it so fast that she was nearly choked, 
while Mrs. Gay was quite surprised at 
her eagerness, and Mr. Gay said: “Well, 
well! You must like turnip! Have 

some more ! ” and he put another spoon- 
ful on her plate. 

Bonnie looked bewildered for a mo- 
ment, and then she began to cry, which 
made every one ask what was the 
matter. 

But poor Bonnie ! She dared not tell, 
and she wanted to go home. And with 
regret they all bade her good-by. 

“ What is the matter ? ” asked her 

♦ 

mother. “ Didn’t you like to stay to 
Lady Gay’s nice supper.” 


88 


LADY GAY. 


“ It wasn’t a nice supper,” sobbed Bon- 
nie, “ I didn’t eat a thing but turnip.” 
“Turnip!” exclaimed mamma, “why, 
Bonnie, whatever made you eat that ? ” 
“ Because I just hate it,” cried Bonnie. 


CHAPTER X. 


BEHIND BILLY. 

Lady Gay often said : “ I have the 
best times every day that I ever had.” 

Anions: these “ best times ” were the 
rides behind Billy. She learned while 
very small to stand outside near the far- 
thest horse-block and wait for her father 
at meal-time. She knew he would drive 
up with the wagon and take her in, and 
she would get a ride to the barn. Some- 
times he would take her “ around the 
Square,” before he drove in. 

Once, while she yet rode in her baby 
carriage, she was taken down-town in it, 

89 


90 


LADY GAY. 


and coming back as far as her father’s 
store just at noon, she was lifted, carriage 
and all, into the back part of the wagon. 
Then her mother, on the front seat, 



WAITING FOR MR. GAY. 


steadied her, her father started Billy, and 
Lady Gay rode home in great style. 

She liked to ride so well that once 
when she was lifted out of the carriage 

O 


BEHIND BILLY. 


91 


she sat down upon the sidewalk and 
screamed, and all the neighbors and 
passers-by could hear her. I hate to tell 
you what happened to her because she 
could not make up her mind to get up 
and go into the house. 

One afternoon, about half-past two 
o’clock, Mr. Gay came up and said he 
had to go out of town about two miles, 
and he would be glad to take Lady Gay 
and her mother. When they were gone 
about a mile, they came to a row of trees 
that had small tin pails fastened against 
their sides, and little chips leading from 
a hole in the trees into the pails. 

“ What is that for ? ” said Lady Gay. 

“ That,” replied her mother, “ is for 
maple sugar.” 

“Is there sugar in the pails ? ” asked 
Lady Gay. 


9 2 


LADY GAY. 


Her father stopped the horse, jumped 
out and went to a tree, reached up and 
took down a pail. This he brought to 
Lady Gay and she looked in. 

“ Why, it’s water ! ” she exclaimed. 

“ No,” answered her father. “ It looks 
like water, but it is sap. They put that 
over a fire, boil it thick and make sugar 
of it. Would you like to taste it?” 

Lady Gay thought not. She was rather 
nice about tasting new tastes. 

Mr. Gay stopped Billy again soon and 
directed Lady Gay’s attention to a build- 
ing with a sign. The big, black, painted 
letters were not very good letters, and they 
were not all in the right places. The 
sign said: “New Mapel Sugar.” Lady 
Gay could spell it, but she did not know 
what it said. 

“ There is some new maple sugar in 


LOOK OUT. MISTER! YOU’LL GET RUN INTO-' 



I 

\ 




BEHIND BILLY. 


95 


that grocery, 1 ’ said Mr. Gay. “ Don’t you 
want some ? ” 

Lady Gay did, and her papa brought 
her half a dozen new cakes in about a 
minute. They were fresh and clean-look- 
ing, with little scallops around the edges. 
Mrs. Gay let her daughter have a “least, 
tiny bite,” to see what it was like. 

When they were about half-way home 
that day they came to a funny old house 
with a queer rickety fence in front, and 
on the fence, in a row, sat five funny 
little children. 

“Look out, mister! You’ll git run 
into ! ” these children screamed. 

Mr. Gay looked behind and saw a 
powerful pair of black horses coming. 
They were running away, and drawing a 
wagon full of frightened people after 
them. Mr. Gay took the whip and 


9 6 


LADY GAY. 


touched Billy, and Billy hurried to get out 
of the way. The horses were coming 
very fast and there was no near road 
down which to turn, and there was not 
much room to get to one side. 

Faster and faster went Billy, and faster 
and faster came the black horses. Lady 
Gay screamed. Mr. Gay kept quiet and 
managed his animal carefully. He was 
trying to reach the first corner ahead. 
Perhaps he would have done so, but just 
before they came to it the black horses 
turned, ran down the side of the road, 
over the sidewalk and through a gap in 
a fence into a field. Nothing happened 
any further. For after the horses had 
performed this feat they came to a full 
stop. 


CHAPTER XI. 


HOW A GOOD PENNY RETURNED. 

Lady Gay was fond of dogs — if the 
dogs were in a story. But she was afraid 
of them anywhere else. Still she thought 
she might like Fritz — 
he was so little and 
frizzly it seemed as if 
he could not bite much. 

Fritz was a Scotch 
terrier, away down in Pennsylvania, and 
Mrs. Gay had his photograph. He had 
been educated to do many tricks. Of 
course he could speak, and once he spoke 
at a very funny time. 

Fritz lived in the Eliot family, and 



97 


98 LADY GAY. 

there were three little Eliots whom he 
followed everywhere, unless they sent him 
back. 

There was an entertainment at the 
schoolhouse that night, and the entire 
Eliot family attended. They told Fritz 
he could not go, and Fritz whined a little, 
and crept to his place on the rug. 

A very stylish lady recited four long 
poems. The Eliots enjoyed it at first. 
So did Fritz! For sly Fritz had dis- 
obeyed, and come. The first the Eliots 
knew about that, they felt his nose against 
their feet. 

They did not dare to try to drive him 
home for fear he would disturb the audi- 
ence. So they just whispered to him to 
keep still. 

One of the pieces the lady recited was 
about a man who had died, and some one 




HOW A GOOD PENNY RETURNED. IOI 


called to the dead man and said, “ Speak , 
oh, speak to me /” Now when the lady 
came to the word “speak,” Fritz jumped 
right up and spoke loudly. And every 
time the lady said “speak,” he barked as 
hard as he could. 

When Mrs. Gay told Lady Gay about 
this, Lady Gay thought she would like to 
know a dog that could “ speak.” 

“ Penny can do that,” said her mother. 
“ He can say his letters.” 

“ Why, can he ? ” exclaimed Lady Gay ; 
“ I never heard of a dog that knows as 
much as I do. That’s all I know, is my 
letters. Can he read them right off ? ” 

“ Oh, no ! but when Mr. Church calls 
the letters, Penny will bark as if he were 
trying to say them after him.” 

“ I wish I could hear him. Why didn’t 
you ever let me hear him ? ” 


102 


LADY GAY. 


“You are always so afraid of him that 
Mrs. Church sends him away.” 

“Well, next time I won’t be afraid, and 
will you let me ? ” 

Mrs. Gay promised, and not long after 
she called at Mrs. Church’s. 

“ How do you do, Lady Gay ? ” said 
Mr. Church. “ Have you come to call on 
me this afternoon ? ” 

“ No, sir; I’ve come to hear Penny say 
his letters,” said Lady Gay. 

“ I thought you were afraid of Penny,” 
said Mr. Church. 

“ That was before I knew he could say 
his letters,” she answered. 

“ Come here, Penny ! ” called Mr. 
Church. Penny rose and walked to his 
master. Lady Gay immediately got into 
her mother’s lap. 

“ Now, Penny,” said Mr. Church, “ this 


HOW A GOOD PENNY RETURNED. 103 

young lady wants to hear you say your 
letters. Come, ready — A.” 

And Penny yelped one yelp that 
sounded remarkably like “ A.” “ B,” said 

Mr. Church. Another yelp. “C” — a 
third yelp, and so on, until the perform- 
ance was brought to a close because 
Penny made so much noise that Lady 
Gay was alarmed. 

“ Now,” said Mr. Church, “ I will tell 
you how Penny once got home again 
after he was lost, because he knows his 
letters. 

“ I go down on the train every morning 
to Grayton, to my lumber yard. It is 
twelve miles away. My grandchildren 
live there. 

“ Penny always likes to go with me, 
because he is fond of the children. I go 
down on a way-freight and ride in the 


104 


LADY GAY. 


caboose. Penny rides in the caboose, too, 
and sits up on the seat. 

“ One day, two years ago, I had a bad 
cold, and I stayed at home for ten days, 
and for three days Penny stayed, too. On 
the fourth day, in the morning, he went 
away and did not come back till night. 
The next day he did the same, and one 
of the train-men called and said Penny 
had gone to the station both days, all by 
himself, gone into the caboose, and got 
off at Grayton, coming back at night. 

“ I told the trainmen to keep an eye 
on him and let him go. But one night 
Penny did not come back. I thought he 
had stayed with the children and did not 
worry. But he was not there. He was 
lost.” 


“ Didn’t you ever find 
Lady Gay. 


him ? ” asked 


HOW A GOOD PENNY RETURNED. IO5 


“Well, my dear, it was a whole year 
before I set eyes on Penny. Then I was 
in Connell’s market one morning, and 




a farmer came in, with a dog behind 
him. 

“ As soon as the dog saw me he jumped 


io6 


LADY GAY. 


and whined and rolled and licked my 
shoes, and acted like a crazy dog. 

“ I said to the countryman, ‘ Where did 
you get your dog ? ’ and he told me he 
had bought him of a boy over a year 
before. ‘Well,’ said I, ‘that is my dog 
and he was stolen from me. I want him 
back and am willing to pay you what you 
gave for him.’ 

“ He said if I could prove the dog was 
mine he would give him up. So I said: 
‘ Penny, come, sir, and say your letters.’ 

“ Penny sat straight up in a minute. 
‘Now, ready!’ said I, ‘A.’ Penny gave 
a bark. ‘ B,’ I said, and Penny said ‘ B,’ 
too, and before I got to ‘ F ’ you could 
hear Penny clear down the street. The 
countryman told me I was welcome to my 
dog.” 


CHAPTER XII. 

yeller’s excursion. 

When Lady Gay was two years old 
Spartacus, her birthday bird, died. Lady 
Gay was a touching little mourner, as she 
carried the dead bird, wrapped in a cloth, 
to its grave, dug in a flower bed. A stick 
was set up to mark the place, and the 
bird-cage was put up in the garret. 

The next May Mr. Gay came home 
from the store, bringing a big thing 
that he set carefully down on the floor 
and unwound from its papers. It was 
a cage, with a lively young canary inside, 
as yellow as yellow could be, except for 

107 


io8 


LADY GAY. 


a tiny dark star on the back of his 
neck. 

“ I'm going to name this bird,” said 
Mr. Gay. 

/ 

“ What will you name him ? ” asked 
Lady Gay. 

“I shall name him ‘Yeller,’” said Mr. 



THE WELCOME TO YELLER. 


Gay ; “ that will stand for his color and 
his music.” 

And Lady Gay thought this was an 
excellent idea. 



THE BURIAL OF SPARTACUS. 



\ 


■1 N 





-< 






































yeller’s excursion. 


1 1 1 


The cage was brought from the garret, 
made clean, its door was opened and set 
against the open door of the borrowed 
cage in which Yeller had come, and he 
was induced to hop into the old home 
of Spartacus, and the cage hook was 
again screwed into the window casing, 
and Lady Gay was made owner of her 
second songster. 

Yeller grew and prospered. He was 
tame and yet warlike. He would hop 
on any finger thrust between the wires, 
and peck it fiercely. Sometimes he would 
dare the passer to a fight, by sounding 
a queer little note, and sticking his head 
as far outside the cage as he could 
reach. 

One morning, after being hung on the 
front veranda for fresh air, suddenly a pair 
of catches snapped back, his cage floor 


I I 2 


LADY GAY. 


dropped, and, with one wild flutter, Yeller 
was free. 

“ Oh, my lovely bird ! ” screamed Lady 
Gay, with loud weeping, and all the house- 
hold rushed out and saw the bewildered 
bird sitting on a branch of the corner 
maple-tree. 

Yeller would answer their calls by 
chirps, would turn his slender head on 
first one side and then another, and look 
down with a bright, black eye, but he 
would not come down, and began to try 
his wings. From branch to branch, from 
tree to tree, from tree to roof, flew Yeller. 
From morning until noon the family fol- 
lowed him about. 

Mamma offered a good reward to any 
boy who would climb the tree and get 
him. Plenty of boys climbed up, but not 
one earned any money. 


yeller’s excursion. 


113 

When night came Yeller was still out 
in the wide, wide world. 

At early sunrise next day, Lady Gay’s 
papa rose, sure he could catch Yeller 
napping and bring him down. Not so! 



THE PURSUIT OF YELLER. 


On the topmost branch of an elm-tree, 
wide awake and hopping about in the 
morning sunshine, was Yeller. 

When the breakfast bell rang, as Mr. 




LADY GAY. 


I 14 

Gay went towards the house and walked 
up the steps, he glanced up at the cage, 
and, to his astonishment, a canary bird 
was sitting inside swinging merrily — a 
real canary, with dark feathers and a top- 
knot on its head. 

Mr. Gay promptly shut the cage and 
carried it into the house. 

• K 

“ Didn’t I tell you I would bring you 
a bird ? ” he said to Lady Gay, who 
screamed with pleasure. 

The stranger was hung on Yeller’s 
hook in the dining - room, and before 
breakfast was over gave them a loud and 
thrilli ng song. 

Lady Gay was a good deal comforted. 

“ I have a bird, any way,” she said, 
and at once named it “ Stray.” “ I shall 
have two when Yeller is caught,” she 
concluded. 


yeller’s excursion. I 15 

A half-dozen people cannot chase for 
two whole days, and Mrs. Gay shut the 
outside door at last with a sigh, for a 
heavy, cold rain began to fall. 

They tried to cheer Lady Gay by say- 
ing there was plenty of shelter for birds 
in the big trees. But in her secret heart, 
mamma never expected to see Yeller any 
more. 

Just one -half hour before supper the 
door-bell rang. 

Mamma opened the door and saw a 
boy in a wet coat covering the hollow of 
one hand with the other. 

“ Is this your bird ? ” he asked, showing 
limp, bedraggled Yeller, who lay on his 
side without a motion. 

“It is — it surely is!” exclaimed Mrs. 
Gay. “ Where did you find him ? ” 

She asked the boy in and took Yeller 


LADY GAY. 


I 16 

into her warm hands, breathing softly 
on it. Nora heated some cotton, they 
wrapped him in it, and put him on the 
floor of an old cage from the attic. The 
boy said he had seen the bird lying by 
the roadside, under a tree from which 
it had been beaten by the rain, and an- 
other boy told him where it probably 
belonged. 

The boy got a dollar, and when papa 
came home and saw the little flyaway 
hopping about the old cage, he declared 
the reward was too small. 

So Lady Gay had two birds ? Not 
at all. 

When the newcomer had been with 
them three days, there came to the door 
a nine-year-old girl, with big, expectant 
eyes. 

“ My mamma heard you caught a 


yeller’s excursion. 


II 7 

canary,” she said, “ and may I please 
look and see if it is mine ? ” 

“ Of course you may,” replied Grandma. 

As soon as the little girl looked she 
began to cry. 

“ O Dick ! O you darling Dick ! That’s 
just like your cage, and that’s just why 
you went into it.” 

Then she bore him away with smiles 
and thanks — so happy to get him that 
the Gays were happy to have it end 
so. 

As for Yeller, he never again escaped, 
but chirped, and swung, and preened, 
and sung as before. 

Whether he sometimes longed for one 
more excursion I cannot say. 

“ I think,” said Lady Gay, “ it’s the 
remarkablest thing I’ve seen happen in 
my family in my life.” 


I IS 


LADY GAY. 


“ Such a long life, too,” said Mr. Gay, 
“Well, it’s some long, I guess, when 
I got alive four whole years ago ! ” an- 
swered his daughter. 





























































